William Manning, Sr

William Manning lost his wife Susannah by death in 1650, and at some later time he removed to Boston, where he united with the First Church. The record reads : " Willyam Manning was admitted member, 25. 6m°, 1664." It is not certain that the latter date determines the time of his removal. He may have gone earlier than 1664, and, for a time, have kept up his church relations at Cambridge, which, as far as distance was concerned, could have been done easily, but he cer tainly was a resident of Boston in 1664, Aug. 25, when he became connected with the church there. The name of the mother of his children is unknown. We have his own statement, above, that she died on the voyage to this country. In a day when family names were generally repeated in each successive generation, her sou named his daughters Hannah, Sarah, Abigail and Mary, respectively. Theoretically, the nameof the first wife of the elder William Manning should be in this list, and opinion may well dwell strongly upon the first as, per haps, the proper one. After arriving in the Colony he married (second) Susannah , of whom we know no more than that she died in Cambridge 1650, Oct. 16. Whoever she was, it is a reasonable conjecture, as elsewhere mentioned, that he had known her in England. He married (third), perhaps at Boston, Elizabeth , who survived him, but her identity is unknown, neither of these marriages being on record. The will of our ancestor, written by some person unknown, was drawn shortly before his death, and, now on file in the Suffolk County Probate Office, reads as follows :

Elizabeth Maninge : all my whole estate whatsoever : duringe the time of her natural life : & at her decease my will is that of what shall be then left of my estate : which was my owne before my last marl age : I doe dispose of as followeth forasmuch as my lovinge son Willyam maninge have through ye providence of god A good estate : I doe therefore give & bequeath unto him but on third part of that which shal be left of what was my owne before this last mariage : & ye other two thirds : I doe give & bequeath unto my grandchilde Samuel Walsbie : & my desire is that this grandchild Samuel Walsbie might be put to A trade acordinge to ye discretion of my executrix & overseers : further I doe make ordaine constitute & appointe : my lovinge wife sole executrix : & I doe desire Robert Walker Jacob Eliot & Theophilus ffrary to be overseers : & to asist my wife and to see this my Last will & testament performed : lastly I doe hereby revoake & make voyd all former wills & bequests whatsoever made or pretended to be made : & own and acknowledge this to be my last will and testament in witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth of febuarle In ye year of our lord 1665. WiLLYAM X MANINGE In presence of John Tapping Edward porter Jno Tapping & Edw. Porter depose In Court 28 April 1666 that they subscribed their names to this paper as witnesses that they were pres ent & did hear ye sayd Willyain Mailing publish & declare the same to be his last will & Testament & that he was of a sound disposing mindwas of a sound disposing mind when he so did Edw. Rawson, Record'." The fact tbat the testator " made his mark," instead of sign ing his name, does not prove that he did not know how to write. The compiler of this history has found instances of more modern date where men, after signing documents in handsome penmanship in their younger days, inscribed only their " mark" to their wills. Extreme bodily weakness or a disabled band was responsible for this, and William Manning may have been under like affliction. No other papers accompany the will, and the amount of his estate cannot be stated, nor is it known when his widow died, or if any thing remained at the time of her decease. He had some means,for he was able to purchase a home soon after his arrival in Cam bridge, and seems to have believed that what he left at his decease would support his widow throughout her lifetime and leave some thing for division among his heirs. The date of his death is unknown, as it is not on record, but it was between the date of his will, 1665, Feb. 17, and the timewhen the document was proved, 1666, Apr. 28. His age can only be conjectured. As his son was born about 1614, the father's birth was, in all likelihood, as early as 1592, and probably several years prior to that date. It would not be surprising if he had reached his eightieth birthday, and seventy-four years is a more than modest possibility. It would seem that no headstone exists to his grave, and the place of his burial is unknown. A natural desire on his part, perhaps, would be that he might be buried in Cambridge, where he so long resided, but, if such was the case, we might well expect that he would have gravestones, and that they would possibly be in existence now. On the other hand, if his widow was of Boston before he married her, her wishes might prevail and he be laid to rest there. This possibility seems the more likely because the hand of man has not always been sparing of gravestones in places where land was of marked value. The point cannot be settled now. The children of William Manningpoint cannot be settled now. The children of William Manning may have been many or few. That he had only one son who lived to mature years is probable; that he had but one dwelling in this country is next to certain. He may have had daughters. Some may have remained in England. As far as present knowledge goes, however, his descendants of the following generation seem to have been limited to those named below : 2. WILLIAM, b. about 1614, in England. 3. *HANNAH. In his church “confession” Williamrefers to his “wife and child,” which would seem to imply that he had no other children; but in his will he leaves a be quest to his “grandchild Samuel Walsbie.” The use of the term “grandchild” may have been more a matter of conven ience than of fact, and Samuel may have been a grandchild, not of William Manning, but of one of his later wives; but it is likely that the expression in the will should be taken exactly as it was used, and that William had a married daughter in the Colony. The family is easily located. David Walsby (also spelled Walsbee and Walsbery) was a freeman in Braintree, Mass., as early as 1651. His wife was named Hannah. At Braintree they had ch. : I. Samuel, b. 1651, Apr. 9; d. 1679, March. He was of suitable age to learn a trade when his grand father's will was drawn, in 1665. II. David, b. 1655, Sep. 29; probably the David Walsbery who was a soldier of King Philip's war, and in the garrison at Punckapauge, 1676, Aug. 24; not further traced. Hannah, wife of David, d. 1655–6, Feb. 2. He m. (2d) Ruth Bass and had several daughters. Careful search for later descendants of David and Hannah has devel.oped nothing j possibly the son David died in service, or he may have removed to a distance. The history of Billerica (page 58) says : " Goodman Walsley [?] was granted ten acres of land" there, but the grant was later made " null." It will be seen that the historian was in doubt as to the name of the grantee. Should it uot be Walsby ? If so, it seems that David, senior, contemplated removing to Billerica, a town in which the Manning family then had an interest. This probability adds force to the belief that Hannah, wife of David Walsby, was a daughter of William Manning.

The Geneaological and Biographical History of the Manning families of New England and Descendants by William H. Manning, p97,98

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Manning-1166

Biography

William Manning was born 1589-1592 in Taunton, Somersetshire, England.

Emigration 1634 [1]

"Manning, William, at Cambridge 1634, freeman 13 May 1640, brought from England William, and prob. other children, perhaps Timothy, who d. 8 Nov. 1653, was one. His wife Susanna was bur. 16 Oct. 1650, but when he d. is not ascert." [2]
Rootsweb tree lists 3 spouses:
Hannah b: ABT 1593 in Taunton, Somersetshire, England; Married: ABT 1614 in Kent, England. Children:
John MANNING b: ABT 1614 in Kent, England
William MANNING b: ABT 1615 in Kent, England
Timothy MANNING b: ABT 1616 in Kent, England
Hannah MANNING b: ABT 1617 in Kent, England
Susanna b: ABT 1610 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts Death: 16 OCT 1650 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts Burial: 19 OCT 1650 Manning Cemetery Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts Married: ABT 1635 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts
Elizabeth b: ABT 1620 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Married: ABT 1652 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts[3]
Note: Images of the Taunton registers for St Mary and St James are on Ancestry .Just using the index, shows that there were many Mannings living in Taunton from the 1600s to the 1800s. ( spelling variations including Maning, Manninge and according to the Ancestry index Mannings but when you check them, they are Manninge)
In particular, at St Mary, there was a William Manning(s), the father of Anne baptised in 1613, William father of Richard bapt in 1615 and William buried in Jan 1616/17 ( likely to have been an adult as the clerk names the fathers names for what appear to be children's burials)

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Manning-413

William Manning (abt. 1589 - 1688)

William Manning

Born about 1589 in Taunton, Somersetshire, England

Son of Henry Manning and Joyce (Day) Manning

[sibling%28s%29 unknown]

Husband of Susannah (UNKNOWN) Manning — married before 1635 in England

Father of John Manning and Mary (Manning) Seeley

Died 28 Apr 1688 at about age 99 in Boston, Middlesex, Massachusetts

Profile last modified 6 Feb 2022 | Created 4 Apr 2011

William Manning migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1620-1640).

Sources

↑ VIRKUS, FREDERICK A., editor. Immigrant Ancestors: A List of 2,500 Immigrants to America before 1750. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1964. 75p. Repr. 1986.
↑ http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/newengland/savage/bk3/manchester-...
↑ https://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=glines&i...
"Glad/Rafferty/Kennamer Genealogy" Tom Glad, worldconnect database tjglad: https://wc.rootsweb.com/trees/233527/I003754/william-manning/indivi...
Acknowledgements

WikiTree profile Manning-830 created through the import of Lupton file.ged on Jul 8, 2011 by Kim Ostermyer.
Eileen McKinnon-Suggs (email removed), Our Kingdom Come (http://awtc.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=emsuggs&id=I39737 Last updated October 10, 2004Accessed December 2, 2005)
This person was created through the import of Watkins.ged on 04 April 2011.